Beer In Ads #2385: Health Waits On Appetite

Thursday’s ad is from Pabst, from 1913. Many brewers made other related products besides beer, notably malt extract, to be used primarily in cooking as an ingredient in breads and desserts and even as a tonic. According to Briess, which still offers it today. “What is Malt Extract? Malt can be further processed to produce liquid or dried sweeteners called Malt Extracts.” They were essentially “the original starch- or grain-based sweetener.” Many brewers survived prohibition making malt extract, both for legal uses and for homebrewing, but Pabst was making and advertising decades before. In this ad, a couple is sitting down for a meal, while their servant waits on them. The ad wonders what good would their feast be if they didn’t have an appetite or if eating it made their stomach churn. Luckily, the regular use of Pabst Malt Extract, “overcomes dyspepsia, creates a normal, healthy desire for food — aids digestion and relieves every form of stomach trouble.”